Time Management Tools

Effective time management begins with having the correct tools to work with. In this article we will look at a number of time management tools that are available to help you manage your time more effectively.

First Time Management Tool: The Year Planner

The first time management tool you should look at purchasing is a year planner. A year planner allows you to see a whole year at a glance and is usually a large wall chart that you can stick up in your office or home. Year planners can be used for overall time management of the year by filling in important dates or seasons on your year planner.

Second Time Management Tool: The Weekly Planner

A weekly planner is another time management tool which can make time management a lot easier. Weekly planners can be on paper or on your computer and allow you to fill in more specific appointments than a year planner but not as much detail as a daily diary or task list. You can also use a weekly planner with days in columns and times in rows and then block out specific days and times for different categories of activities.

Third Time Management Tool: Task List/To-Do List

Your task list or to-do list is another important time management tool. You can either use a pen and paper-based to-do list, computerized to-do list software, or an online to-do list, depending on what suits you best. Your task list is a list of all the tasks you need to complete within the day and should be prioritized by how important each activity is.

Fourth Time Management Tool: The Diary

Your diary usually combines all of the above time management tools - it may have a year planner near the front or back of the diary but this is often too small to really carry as much detail as a full wall year planner. It also usually contains weekly planners and may have a column each day to fit your to-do list. The diary also allows you to make more specific appointments each day and allows for fine tuning your daily time management.

Fifth Time Management Tool: Other Lists

Part of effective time management is focusing on the task at hand, often however other thoughts may enter our minds when we are trying to focus on a task. By writing these things down on lists we are able to continue focusing on what we are doing and leave the other thoughts for later. These lists may be collected in the form of a Hipster PDA, filing system or on your computer. The lists you keep will vary depending on what you want to accomplish or what business you are involved in but may include a list for the projects you are involved in, calls you need to make, etc.

In conclusion, there are five main time management tools which you should use when managing your time effectively. These time management tools include a year planner, a weekly planner, a to-do list, a diary and other lists to help you keep focused.